Fake bishop sneaks into high profile Vatican cardinals conference

By Mason White 5:53 PM March 6, 2013

Ralph Napierski

By: Sarah Weiss
(Scroll down for video) More than 100 holy figures were unable to detect the fraudster among them as a fake bishop sneaked into a high profile Vatican meeting meant only for cardinals, according to press reports in Rome.

A man dressed as a bishop managed to sneak through at the meeting of more than 100 cardinals at the Vatican this week, before being expelled by Swiss Guards.

Ralph Napierski wore a short tunic, an unusual cross necklace and a purple belt which was actually a scarf, according to a local Italian newspaper. Instead of a skull cap, he wore a black felt hat.

He told reporters that his name was Basil, and a member of the Corpus Dei, which is a German church described online as a “Catholic Order after episcopal law”.

Before being discovered, the false bishop told reporters that the church made a mistake by moving priests who were accused of pedophilia around to different parishes.